The Poet's Darling
by Seph Meadowes
Summary: Tyler visits Caroline at the hospital. Some Tyler/Caroline. Complete.


_Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity._ **- John Ruskin**

Tyler Jacob Lockwood didn't get nervous about a lot of things. There was the expected anticipation before a game and the slight anxiousness during important dinner parties his parents hosted and he had to be on his best behavior but mostly he was confident in everything he did.

He was a Lockwood and with the name came privilege and entitlement.

So, his parents knew all the important people in town, knew how to get the best of everything and basically got their way no matter what it takes. The Lockwoods weren't cruel people. They just knew what they wanted and fought for it, ferociously, with sharp teeth and claws.

Though, Tyler wouldn't admit it even under the pain of torture but Sheriff Forbes did make him sort of nervous. He was used to women like his mother and Vicki whose bites were worse than their barks.

But Sheriff Forbes was the type of woman who not only had bite and bark but was a sharp shooter with a large arsenal at her disposal and deputies all over the town who could do violent acts towards him and find a way to get away with it.

Bottom line was Sheriff Forbes had balls. Of steel. And he knew better than to mess with her.

Thus, he got his mom to talk to her instead and ask what her daughter's favorite flowers were. Then she got on the phone with the town's best florist and ordered the best bouquet of gardenias, baby's breaths and azaleas.

And now there he was standing outside the hospital room of the one and only Caroline Alicia Forbes, uncharacteristically nervous with sweaty palms, dry mouth and all.

He was acting like a thirteen year old geek about to have his first kiss and he didn't like it. At all.

He was Tyler Lockwood. He didn't do nervous.

Taking a calming breath, he knocked on the hard oak that opened not a second later.

He could only blink at the bright salmon scrubs the 40-something red-headed nurse was wearing. With the pink highlights in her hair, she looked like a giant salmon pulled right out of the water.

She glanced quickly from him to the ostentatious bouquet in his arms and left. He entered Caroline's hospital room and was not surprised that it looked no different from the rest of the hospital's interior decor of whites and blues.

What he found odd was the sight of Caroline Forbes lying on a hospital bed in a hospital gown, hair messy and smiling at him like he was Santa Clause come with her desired presents.

"Hello Tyler!" She greeted him deliriously cheery that it scared him a little. Caroline was a genuinely chipper person but this was something else.

He'd only seen her that happy one time when they first got high at fifteen during Duke's annual party. She'd somehow convinced all of them to jump into the lake butt naked regardless of the fact it was the middle of November.

"Hello Caroline," He greeted back warily, stepping closer to her in caution.

That high/delirious smile never left her face and she bounced up on her bed and gestured for him to come closer, pulling him down to sit on her bed with more force than he expected. He didn't know how to react so he just handed her the bouquet and hoped she didn't hit him with it.

Her smile widened as she accepted flowers, giggling out a "Thank you, Tyler!" before hugging him so unexpectedly, he almost choked on his own breath.

Once she disentangled herself from him, he asked, "Caroline, are you alright?"

"I just had my medication." She informed him oh-so-happily, swaying from side to side while humming. This wasn't how patients reacted a few days after a serious operation. What the hell did they give her?

As if reading his mind, she answered. "Oh, they gave me _everything_."

Now, he was genuinely scared.

* * *

**This was written for the fanfic wish list over at the vampire forums. I combined #1, 4 and 7.**

**1. Tyler visits Caroline at the hospital.**

**4. Tyler brings Caroline her favorite flowers.**

**7. A hug.**

**Title of the fic is a William Wordsworth quote. The flowers I chose for the bouquet all have a meaning. Gardenias mean "you're lovely" and secret love, baby's breaths mean everlasting love, and azaleas mean "take care of yourself for me" and fragile passion.**

**"Oh they gave me _everything_" is from Supernatural.  
**


End file.
